NAHVERKEHR/CLOSE ENCOUNTERS

Sommerblut Kulturfestival Köln, Premiere: May 7th, 2014

For People with a Handicap, nothing is the same as for so-called healthy people, especially not an erotic encounter. Although there are first cautious steps towards a sexual freedom, their desires remain a social tabu. The theatre project »Nahverkehr« (»Close Encounters«) with seven handicapped performers, a blind singer, and two actors, dares to enter this forbidden zone. They create in various scenes a theatrical backdrop to share personal experiences, to question them and to present them to the public with an artistic approach. In this time of digital work environments, and a focus on the optimation of the body which is antithetical to both desire and self-confidence, the project attempts to define a different relationship between our lives and our bodies, physical contact, and sensual arousal. The right to define and control one’s own sexuality applies equally to people with disabilities, something which should go without saying. This project provides encouragement to wish, to dream, and to strive for a culture of closeness and acceptance, and in a very personal way, calls into question a social tabu far too long held. At the same time, it endeavors to take seriously the fears of so-called “normal” people, and to build a bridge of mutual understanding, in order to facilitate closeness.